The No. 2 Virginia men’s basketball team headed into Saturday afternoon facing its biggest test of the season against No. 4 Duke. The top-five showdown between the two ACC rivals lived up to the hype, with the Cavaliers (20-1, 9-0 ACC) pulling out a tightly-contested 65-63 win over the Blue Devils (18-3, 6-3 ACC) in a nail-biter.
Virginia dominated the first half, taking a double-digit lead into the half after putting up 32 points and limiting Duke to only 22. However, Duke would storm back in the second half, taking the lead at 41-39 with just under 13 minutes remaining. The rest of the game would be a back-and-forth battle between the two teams until sophomore guard Ty Jerome hit the biggest shot of the night, connecting on a deep three with 39 seconds left in the game to put the Cavaliers up 63-58 and set them up for the win.
Jerome was one of four Virginia players to score in double-digits, picking up 13 to go along with seven assists, five rebounds and three steals. Sophomore guard Kyle Guy led the way in scoring for Virginia with 17 points, while senior guard Devon Hall added a solid 14 points and eight rebounds.
Redshirt freshman guard De’Andre Hunter had another strong game, chipping in 12 points off the bench before having to leave the game in the second half with what appeared to be an ankle injury.
Duke’s freshman duo of forwards Marvin Bagley III and Wendell Carter Jr. had fantastic games for their team. The former racked up 30 points and 14 rebounds, and the latter had 14 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks.
Virginia will now get a few days off before it returns to Charlottesville to take on Louisville Wednesday night. That game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
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